The Porzellansammlung Dresden, an ASEMUS member, will be hosting the international conference “Porcelain Circling the Globe. International Trading Structures and the East Asia Collection of Augustus the Strong (1670–1733)” in Dresden, Germany, on 13-14 June 2018.

Over these two days, the conference will discuss the porcelain trade conducted by individual dealers working outside of the dominant trading companies in the 17th and 18th centuries. It will focus on private networks in and beyond Asia, as well as the emergence of collecting East Asian art in Europe.

A significant focus of the conference will be on the former royal collection of Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Augustus was an avid collector of East Asian prints, lacquer work and textiles, and accumulated over 25,000 examples of East Asian porcelain, of which around 8,000 objects are extant at the Porzellansammlung Dresden. The provenance of many of these objects is remarkably well-documented as they were recorded in the early 18th century in extensive royal inventories. Considering the number of porcelain dealers specifically mentioned in these unique records, one must ask the question of how important and influential these private networks were for the formation of East Asian porcelain collections – not only in Saxony, but also in other parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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